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[Salvos] 719. The Archangel Part Two
🕑 Added 2024-09-09 19:36:56 +0000 UTC719. The Archangel Part Two
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[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Heavenspace - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
Edithe’s eyes grew wide at what she saw. She could hardly process it. And that was not because of a lack of trying on her part. No matter how she looked— how she squinted or tried to perceive the corruption, her mind refused to fully comprehend it.
Instead, she saw the smudge of multi-colored lights— she watched as space itself distorted around a core at the very center of this entity. Chunks of rock and rubble were drawn up to it like it was a rift, but they disappeared upon entering the area of distortion surrounding the core.
“This is the corruption…”
Edithe whispered, watching as the entity began to crawl out of the ruins that was once the fortress. Shaking her head, she faced Willy and Centina.
“This is what Salvos was talking about?”
The both of them nodded back at her. Neither of them seemed to be surprised to be seeing the distortion in space, however they were clearly taken aback by the size of it.
“Yes.”
Centina replied as she stared at the tendrils shooting up towards the Archangel.
“The corruption is a threat to the entire world. It is what made my kin flee to Secely in the first place. Even the Matriarch fears this power.”
Her entire body shook as she spoke, and Edithe gritted her teeth. The redhead looked towards the Corrupted Heavenspace as she drew her lips into a thin line.
“I didn’t think it was anything like… this.”
It was so incomprehensible to Edithe, she didn’t even feel fear. She just felt defeated.
“What can we even do against this? And why is the Archangel freeing it?”
“It?”
Willy scoffed when he heard that. He drew back as he looked towards the remains of the fortress.
“The Archangel was not just freeing one thing, Edithe.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Edithe blinked, before she spotted another, smaller entity emerging from the hole in the ground. It flew out into the air as it swung its tendrils in the air, seemingly ripping apart space where it touched.
And it was joined by another. And another. And another.
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Heavenspace - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Heavenspace - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Heavenspace - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
…
Edithe’s head reeled at the sight, and Centina couldn’t help but back away nervously. These Corrupted Heavenspaces were far smaller in size than the first, but their focus wasn’t drawn to the Archangel. They tore apart the earth around them, targeting the sky and the dirt. And everything they touched was corrupted. Distorted. Just like them.
And they weren’t alone. They were accompanied by a swarm of tiny bits of rubble that floated with the same iridescent distortion accompanying them.
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Aetherstone - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Aetherstone - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Aetherstone - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Aetherstone - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Aetherstone - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Aetherstone - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]
…
Edithe watched as thousands of tiny corrupted entities filled the skies, flying alongside the Corrupted Heavenspace. She felt bands of fear tightening around her throat as she tried to comprehend this sight.
“Just what was being kept down there?”
Edithe’s breath was caught in her throat as she asked the question. And next to her, it was her former summon who answered.
“The end of the world.”
Druma whispered, eyeing the hole where the corruption was pouring out from.
“Or one of the vents leading to the end of the world.”
“What?”
Edithe blinked, turning to the [Ancient Yaksha]. She didn’t understand what that was supposed to mean. But before she could question him further, she heard the Archangel’s voice sweep across the entire mountain range.
“Yes. Yes! YES!”
The Archangel exclaimed as it raised its sword, pointing into the distance. All around him, the corruption swarmed, destroying the landscape. Edithe had never witnessed such wanton destruction before.
In mere moments, the entire flatlands had been completely overrun by the corruption. The ground had been shredded open, the sky was flipped upside down, and chunks of rock and stone floated in the air wreathed by the distortion.
It was like space itself was being ripped apart all across the flatlands. And the swarm of corruption was rapidly closing in on the mountain range that Edithe, Druma, Willy, and Centina were hiding in.
However, even as the sea of corruption drew closer, Edithe felt no panic in her heart. All she wondered was—
“Why?”
She looked up towards the Archangel. It was still being chased by the Corrupted Heavenspaces.
“What does the Archangel get out of doing this?”
“Does it matter?”
Willy answered as he stared in the direction of the golden figure as well.
“The Archangel is insane. Why does its intentions matter?”
“But—”
Edithe started, but she was cut off by the shouting voice of the Archangel.
“Go forth! Bring the Spirit Lord’s Domain to ruin— hey, not me!”
The corrupted entities swarmed around the Archangel, and it flew back, cursing.
“You’re being a pain in the ass! If you keep doing this, I’ll kill you!”
The Archangel said as it raised its blade made of divinity angrily back at them. But the group of Corrupted Heavenspaces chasing after it didn’t let up. The largest of them drew closer as the Archangel pointed.
“I’m giving you your last warning—”
But before the Archangel could even continue, a ray of iridescent light engulfed the Corrupted Heavenspace. The Archangel blinked a few times, and Edithe’s gaze snapped up.
She looked in the direction of the source of the attack. And flying high in the sky were… multiple gargantuan figures. Each one was twice the size of even the largest Corrupted Heavenspace. There were a dozen of them, and they descended slowly down into the swarm of corruption.
At first, when Edithe saw them, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Not because of their size, and not because of the same reason she couldn’t comprehend the Corrupted Heavenspaces. Rather, it was because of their peculiar design. She had seen plenty of Spirits during her time as a [Summoner]— especially when she had still been living at the temple with William.
But she had never seen any Spirit like this.
Because they were rings. Massive rings that were constructed within themselves. And they were on fire.
It was like staring at giant floating wheels, lit ablaze with an iridescent flame. There were eyes interspersed across their rings, and they darted around, seeking every bit of corruption that was pouring out into the area.
And from each eye, a pillar or iridescent light shot down, blasting back the Corrupted Heavenspaces. The smallest of the Corrupted Heavenspaces were instantly eradicated by the blast, but the larger ones endured the attack.
Their attacks drew the attention of the corruption away from the Archangel and from destroying the landscape.
Even still, the Archangel cursed as it saw the approaching wheels.
“So Soli’s vanguard has shown up! Well, I don’t want to fight you! So get out of here— [Divine Retribution]!”
Edithe watched as the Archangel pointed at the foremost wheel, before a golden light flashed brightly. The redhead squinted, barely making out a giant figure of the Archangel appearing behind the wheel, before slicing down with an axe.
The attack looked like it struck true. An attack that could have cleaved an entire mountain range in half. But it barely even cut halfway through the wheel.
Edithe watched as the wheel drew back, slightly injured from the attack, but nothing more.
“What…?”
She spun around, hearing the Archangel swearing in the background.
“How did it survive an attack from the Archangel? That’s impossible— the Archangel is a Supreme Spirit.”
“That’s right, master.”
Druma nodded next to her. He stared at the injured wheel as one of the Corrupted Heavenspaces reached it, the tendrils coiling around it. Only for a blast of iridescent light to shoot out and completely obliterate the Corrupted Heavenspace.
“The Archangel is a Supreme Spirit. And yet, it wasn’t able to kill that [Ophanim] in one shot. Which means…”
And the realization slowly settled in
“That must mean…”
Edithe’s eyes grew wide. Druma nodded next to her.
“They are all Supreme Spirits.”
[Ophanim - Lvl. ???]
[Ophanim - Lvl. ???]
[Ophanim - Lvl. ???]
[Ophanim - Lvl. ???]
[Ophanim - Lvl. ???]
…
And the swarm of [Ophanims] rained down their attacks across the landscape, purging the unstoppable force of the corruption before Edithe's very eyes.
Author's Notes:
What thonk?
Comments
Danijel Turina
Also: - We don't know where Daniel and the Watcher are, or what they are doing. Presumably they are trading the Sword of Alexander back and forth in exchange for pushups or something, in order to level their trader classes. :) At some point, someone finds them and tells them about the Centinel problem? - We don't know how long the academy barrier will actually last. Maybe months, but we're never this lucky. More likely, Rachel managed to piss off that Ancient Centinel so much it will return with 20 others and start banging at the barrier with everything they've got. In any case, there are multiple critical points where Salvos either intervenes instantly, or loses companions and friends. One is the fall of the barrier, the other is Daniel and the Watcher attacking the Centinels from the outside, and eventually being overpowered. Another is Clayton having enough of this shit and intending to go down fighting. Next, if Regnorex succeeds with his ritual, the most likely outcome is Nexeus crumbling and it's game over. A critical point is her not being strong enough yet and having to fight Regnorex and the Matriarch Centinel. I hope she levels more before that, but if she wins Focalor over, her odds improve from almost certain loss to almost certain victory. Does she have to deal with the Centinels before she has to deal with Regnorex? Only if one or multiple critical points occur, and it's either do it or lose people. In any case, she needs levels. I don't expect her to evolve before fighting Regnorex, because we're never this lucky. She always has to fight superior enemies as an underdog, exert all power and then level. The only exception to that was her Archdemon evolution before the Lich fight.
Danijel Turina
There seem to be indications that we are approaching some event and it's sufficiently time-sensitive the clock has been posted. The current timeline, as I recall: 3 days ago: - Edithe's team goes into the Spirit Realm; - Haec urgently calls Salvos because the enemy is gathering forces against them; Salvos creates a plan and puts Hartia into a time chamber; day and a half (36h) later: - Edithe's team encounters Archangel; - Salvos engages Jofis. We are counting down towards something. That's why it's my expectations that all those timelines will intersect. Edithe and the Archangel will likely move to the Netherworld. At that point, Salvos finds out that Rachel and her babies are in mortal danger, along with her friends at Mavos academy. She doesn't necessarily go there immediately, but she necessarily makes a rift to connect with the Mortal Realm, in order to at least check the situation. Also, what happens in the next day and a half? Salvos deals with the rest of the legions within hours. They join her, most of their leaders die, she levels some. Most of the Deathsquad joins them. All hell ensues once Regnorex understand that he lost not only Jofis and Manos, but literally all the legions and their leaders, and the entirety of Deathsquad. He likely sends Focalor to deal with this. There is a major battle because Salvos is trying to get through to him with Truth Divination, but in the meantime they thrash each other around and the others scramble and try to survive. Regnorex's ritual needs to be disrupted. He still has 600 Primevals and who knows how many Archdemons at his side, but at this point his domain is in shambles and most of his support structure is crumbling. He needs to do something about it. There will be a final battle. Are Edithe's team and Archangel there at that point? Did they have to help kill Focalor, or did Focalor join them and multiply their power? Did Focalor just join Samuel and Belphegor at the 2nd level? Unknown, but that's what we seem to be counting down to. Timelines converge, shit hits the fan, chaos ensues. :) All we know is, at this point Rachel talks to the Centinels and makes progress.
Danijel Turina
I find it very endearing how Edithe thinks about Salvos. I think somewhere in the Plaguelands, when Salvos was taking care of her, they became sisters rather than merely good friends, and their relationship was that of deep love ever since. I think Edithe sees Salvos as a strange mixture of her baby sister, a family member who attained inconceivable power that she's extremely proud of, and her spirit animal. :)
